WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t bother watching President Trump’s lengthy daily televised briefings on the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t watch his shows,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “I don’t have time to watch him contradict himself from one day to the next.”

Still Ms. Pelosi, who is now deprived of the official trappings of the Capitol with Congress in an extended virus-instigated recess, is trying to counter the president’s White House sessions with her own media blitz from her kitchen in San Francisco.

Over the past three weeks, the speaker has sat for 25 television interviews, up from her typical one or two a month. On Monday, she told the “Late Late Show” host James Corden that Mr. Trump was “in denial” and called his push to swiftly reopen the country “really scary.” On Tuesday, she issued a blistering letter calling Mr. Trump an incompetent liar who had caused “unnecessary deaths and economic disaster,” and went on MSNBC to talk about it. On Wednesday, she appeared on CNN, calling Mr. Trump’s move to put his name on government stimulus checks “shameful.”

People in Washington have come to understand that if you want to communicate with Mr. Trump, the best way is to go on television, and Ms. Pelosi, who led the drive to impeach him, is a master at getting under the president’s skin. But Ms. Pelosi — in tandem with her Senate counterpart, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who is amping up his own media presence — is doing more than just taking potshots.

Eager to offer an alternate narrative to the one Mr. Trump has been presenting, the two are trying to play on what they regard as Mr. Trump’s biggest political weakness: For all the talking the president is doing, many Americans do not believe what he says.

Polls show that Mr. Trump’s rambling briefings, delivered from the White House briefing room or the Rose Garden just outside, are doing him little good. His job approval ratings, which saw a slight uptick when he first took to the airwaves, are stuck near 46 percent, the same as before the pandemic, according to an average calculated by Real Clear Politics. Surveys show that most Americans think the president waited too late to respond to the novel coronavirus. The nation’s governors are getting far better grades from the public.

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer, looking toward the November elections amid deep anxiety among Americans about the pandemic, are trying to weaponize those sentiments. Sidelined from the Capitol, they lack Mr. Trump’s powerful megaphone. Ms. Pelosi is conducting interviews in front of a laptop in her well-appointed kitchen, with her high-end appliances in the background. Mr. Schumer has set up his iPad on a pile of books atop his dining room table in Brooklyn.

“It’s supposed to be at eye level,” he explained in an interview Thursday.

Despite their considerably less grand backdrops, the two have managed to play jujitsu with the president, by either baiting Mr. Trump with their own television appearances or commandeering at least some portion of his briefings by raising questions, reiterated by reporters who then push him to respond.

“Even if the public doesn’t hear them directly, Schumer and Pelosi still play a very influential role in shaping the debate in a way that affects what Trump has to answer for when he does his media circus,” said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster. “They may not always have the ear of the public, but they have Trump’s ear, and he is hypersensitive to what they have to say.”

As the highest-ranking Democrat in the country and Mr. Trump’s constitutional equal, Ms. Pelosi (and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Schumer) is also stepping into a void left by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for president, who has been struggling to carve out a place for himself in the coronavirus debate.

Democrats say the pandemic has presented them with a powerful political hand to play.

“This is a perfect storm of messaging,” said Steve Israel, the former congressman from New York who ran the House Democrats’ campaign arm. “The three defining issues in this campaign were Trump’s competence as president, the strength of the economy and health care — and those three issues have now collided spectacularly.”

Ms. Pelosi insists politics is not at work. “This is life and death,” she said.

But the Democrats have succeeded in elevating issues that Mr. Trump would rather not discuss. This month, for instance, Mr. Schumer used an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to urge Mr. Trump to appoint a military official as a “czar” to oversee the production and distribution of medical supplies and equipment. That led to a daylong verbal duel.

First, Mr. Trump blasted “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer” on Twitter. Mr. Schumer followed up with a letter to Mr. Trump reiterating his demand. They spoke by phone, and Mr. Trump threatened to send Mr. Schumer a “nasty letter.” He later did so, accusing the Democratic leader on formal White House stationery of exacerbating New York’s coronavirus outbreak by being distracted by the “ridiculous impeachment hoax.”

Mr. Schumer insisted that he and Ms. Pelosi were having some effect. In the weeks since that exchange, Mr. Trump has occasionally invoked the Defense Production Act, the Korean War-era law allowing him to compel manufacturers to produce vital equipment.

“One of the reasons the majority of people now realize the president is not doing a good job,” Mr. Schumer said, “is we’ve been pointing it out.”

The two have also been using their media appearances to demonstrate how Democrats might govern, even as they highlight the president’s shortcomings. They have been particularly focused on Mr. Trump’s failure to live up to his claim that any American who needed a coronavirus test could get one. On Wednesday, Democrats rolled out their own $30 billion national testing plan — an implicit attack on Mr. Trump that Ms. Pelosi reinforced later in the day when she went on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“It’s so important to come back to those three big words: testing, testing, testing,” she said, reiterating a phrase that she employs at almost every opportunity.

In the interview with The New York Times, Ms. Pelosi said she was not doing any more press than usual, noting that she frequently spoke to reporters in the Capitol. (She did her regular weekly news conference by telephone on Thursday.) But she has clearly expanded her reach and tried to meet Americans where they are.

Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

Updated June 5, 2020

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

How can I protect myself while flying?

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

That is one reason she went on Mr. Corden’s show. “It is especially important to reach out into the popular culture,” she said.

But excessive media exposure has its downsides, too. When the substance of her interview with Mr. Corden was over, the speaker — who is known for her love of chocolate — engaged in one of the host’s playful episodes of show-and-tell, pulling open her freezer to reveal a drawer full of neatly stacked containers of $12-a-pint artisan ice cream, including her favorite chocolate.

The clip quickly went viral, prompting Ms. Pelosi’s conservative critics to blast her as tone deaf and the Trump campaign to brand her an “ice queen.” Her Republican counterpart, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, also chimed in, complaining to the Fox News host Bill Hemmer that the speaker was “more interested in showcasing her gourmet ice cream than securing the funding” necessary to keep small businesses afloat.

With Mr. Trump making one outlandish statement after another — he claimed last week that he had “total” authority in the pandemic, prompting a rebellion among governors, and on Wednesday he threatened to force Congress to adjourn — Ms. Pelosi said she was primarily interested in forcing the president to reckon with the truth.

“If he tells more falsehoods, if he conveys more falsehoods again and again, they almost become factoids — not quite a fact,” she said. “He is eclipsing the truth, and you cannot let somebody who is not telling the truth say it so often.”

She said she wrote the “Dear Colleague” letter she released Tuesday evening after reflecting about it over the Easter holiday. In it, she used the word “truth” 18 times to launch a string of broadsides against the president, including: “The truth is, a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others.”

Mr. Trump obviously got the message.

“Crazy ‘Nancy Pelosi, you are a weak person. You are a poor leader,’” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning, quoting his friend Sean Hannity of Fox News. The president went on in his own voice: “She is totally incompetent & controlled by the Radical Left, a weak and pathetic puppet. Come back to Washington and do your job!”